The Evening Report - Apr 26
Denmark will pause its vaccination campaign. Russia shuts off the gas taps.
🦠Pandemic🦠
🇩🇰
Denmark will press pause on its national vaccination program next month. The Danish National Board of Health says with the seasonal effect, a “towering” vaccination uptake, and a declining epidemic, it is time to put the vaccination effort on the shelf.
What it means in reality is that as of May 15, vaccination invitations and reminder letters will no longer be sent out. However, the health board says vaccination sites will remain open over the summer.
Unit Head Bolette Søborg:
“We are in a good place. Spring has come, and we have good control of the epidemic, which seems to be subsiding. Admission rates are stable and we also expect them to fall soon. Therefore, we will pause the mass vaccination program. However, you can still be vaccinated over the spring and summer, and we continue to recommend vaccination to people who are at particularly increased risk of a serious infection. This is especially true for people over the age of 40 and for pregnant women if they are unvaccinated.”
A second booster dose is also recommended for those who are immunocompromised including people who are battling cancer and other debilitating diseases.
In making the announcement, the National Health Board also confirmed another vaccination campaign will be launched this fall. It says this is due to the high likelihood of more threatening variants emerging.
“We plan to reopen the vaccination program again in the autumn. Prior to this, a thorough professional assessment must be made of who can be vaccinated, when, and with what vaccines. We expect to present a plan for the overall framework for the 2022/23 season before the summer holidays.”
The health board is meeting with other stakeholders in the vaccination effort to see what improvements or changes can be made to the next campaign.
The health agency is emphasizing that if the pandemic takes an ugly turn again, the vaccination effort can be quickly restarted.
Denmark launched its national vaccination campaign on December 27, 2020. Since then, over 4.8 million people in the country have been vaccinated with two doses. Over 3.6 million have also had a booster dose.
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Denmark’s Health Minister Magnus Heunicke says the COVID contact number (reinfection rate or R0) has dropped back to 0.7. Last week, it jumped up 0.9 after four weeks of being at 0.7. Heunicke says this indicates “an epidemic in retreat.”
While the COVID R0 is much less reliable as a pandemic barometer due to the incredibly low amount of testing in Denmark, the health minister is pointing to the much more reliable wastewater surveillance system as backing up his claim. Heunicke says wastewater testing shows decreasing rates of virus activity across all five Danish regions over the past week.
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COVID hospitalizations (733) edged downward (-14) while the number of severe infection cases in an ICU (13) also inched down (-2) of those the number on a ventilator (4) crept up (+2). #COVID admissions to a psych ward (237) dipped slightly (-4).
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Denmark has reported 1,484 COVID infections (underreported), including 128 reinfection, and 11 more coronavirus deaths in the last day.
Yesterday there were 12,664 PCR corona tests taken equaling a positivity percentage of 11.71%.
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On the vaccination front there were just 559 booster doses administered yesterday as the vaccination campaign grinds towards a halt.
So far, 82.2% of the total population have one vaccine dose, 80.7% have two, and 61.6% have a booster shot.
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Denmark’s tourism industry is on the road to recovery after two years of huge losses due to the COVID pandemic. And the recovery seems to be happening much faster in Denmark than in any of the other Nordic countries. The National Tourism Forum says while the other Scandinavian countries saw tourism visits plunge by 70% in the first year of the pandemic, Denmark recorded a 44% drop. In 2021 the number of overnight stays in Denmark increased by 26% (5.8 million) year over year. This may be largely due to travelers coming in from nearby Germany who weren’t put off by the COVID threat.
Minister of Business and Industry Simon Kollerup:
“COVID hit the Danish tourism companies hard, and therefore it is good that even more people have opened their eyes to Denmark as a holiday destination. The many holiday visitors have been crucial to our coastal tourism, but of course we need more tourists to also return to the cities. That is why we have recently launched a major recovery plan for tourism in the capital region.”
🇸🇪
Sweden only updates its COVID statistics once a week on Thursdays.
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The pandemic situation in Sweden’s capital region continues to improve. Region Stockholm’s Chief Physician Johann Bratt says this is despite warnings of another coronavirus wave from the Swedish Public Health Agency. Bratt says so far they aren’t seeing any signs of increased infection activity.
“We hope that the Public Health Agency's scenario convinces more people to get vaccinated. The vaccines are safe and provide good protection against serious infections. In the last week alone, about 10,000 people have chosen to get vaccinated with a first, second, or third dose, and just over 38,000 people have a fourth dose.”
There are 187 COVID patients in hospitals in Stockholm, which is 20 fewer than one week ago.
Other than that, he says, hospitals are back on track and tackling a significant backlog of procedures that have built up over the pandemic.
“The healthcare service is now working very intensively to provide the care that has previously been postponed during the pandemic and we hope that it will be able to continue at an unabated pace until the summer.”
Region Stockholm saw 621 new infections last week (underreported) and added 11 more deaths. The region continues to warn that there is still a significant backlog in processing pandemic fatalities.
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Health officials in Region Skåne are concerned about the low vaccination rate in Ukraine prior to the Russian invasion. It has now developed a strategy to ensure Ukrainian refugees coming to the region are vaccinated. The region is offering a health examination to all Ukrainian refugees within two weeks of their arrival. It will cover all bases including checking on their vaccination status. Those who don’t have their shots will be encouraged to go get them.
🇳🇴
Norway added 269 infections (underreported) and has reported no new pandemic deaths in the last 24 hours.
The Norwegian Institute for Public Health no longer reports hospitalization data other than weekly admissions. Over the last seven days there were 151 corona cases admitted, which is 14 fewer than the week before.
To date, 80.4% of Norwegians 12 years old and older have had one vaccine dose, 74.8% have two, and 54.3% have had a booster dose.
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The Norwegian Institute of Public Health has put pediatric units across the country on heightened alert over concerns about a global outbreak of hepatitis among young children with no known cause. The NIPH says at the moment they have two possible cases of “acute hepatitis” in the country. Both are young children and both have been hospitalized. At this point, the agency says they cannot 100% confirm it is mystery hepatitis that is to blame here. An investigation is ongoing.
Chief Physician Margrethe Greve-Isdahl:
“The National Institute of Public Health sent a warning to all the country's pediatric wards on April 7 to have increased vigilance for the condition. We are also collaborating with the professional community to map out whether there are similar cases in Norway.”
Over 100 children across several countries, including six cases in Denmark, have been confirmed since the end of March when the first cases appeared in Scotland. In each case young children seem to have contracted hepatitis, some so severe it required a liver transplant, but without any of the usual causes associated with the virus.
🇫🇮
The Finnish Institute for Health has scaled back its COVID statistics, reporting just one day a week, on Thursdays.
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The possible rollout of a second booster dose for people under the age of 80 will be on the table when the Finnish National Advisory Committee meets this Friday. Currently, Finland only offers a fourth dose to seniors 80 years old and older. The Finnish Institute for Health had previously said any discussion on another booster dose wouldn’t come until this fall. Some experts in Finland, including several experienced doctors, have been calling for some younger age groups to be next in line for another booster dose.
🇩🇪
Germany recorded 136,798 new infections and another 304 virus deaths since Monday’s update.
It added another 1,861 hospitalizations, while ICU numbers (1,579) increased slightly (+8). As a percentage of all intensive care beds in the country, COVID patients are using 7.3%.
So far, 76.7% of the total population have one vaccine dose, 76.1% have two doses, and 59.2% have been boosted.
WHO🦠
The World Health Organization says there are now 169 confirmed cases of the mystery acute hepatitis among children across 11 countries. The children range in age from one month old to 16 years of age. The WHO says in 17 cases the virus was so severe it required a liver transplant. The hepatitis outbreak has also claimed the life of one child.
The global health agency notes the cause is still a mystery.
“Adenovirus has been detected in at least 74 cases, and of the number of cases with information on molecular testing, 18 have been identified as F-type 41. SARS-CoV-2 was identified in 20 cases of those that were tested. Furthermore, 19 were detected with an SARS-CoV-2 and adenovirus co-infection.”
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“When it comes to a deadly virus, ignorance is not bliss.”
The World Health Organization warned again on Tuesday that counties should not relax COVID testing and surveillance, although many have.
WHO Director General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus:
“Globally, reported COVID cases and deaths continue to decline, which is very encouraging. Last week, just over 15,000 deaths were reported to the WHO, the lowest weekly total since March 2020. This is a very welcome trend, but it’s one that we must welcome with some caution. As many countries reduce testing, WHO is receiving less and less information about transmission and sequencing. This makes us increasingly blind to patterns of transmission and virus evolution.”
Dr. Tedros says the pandemic is not over and it cannot be ignored into submission.
“It’s still spreading, it’s still changing, and it’s still killing”
And even though deaths are declining he warns that we still don’t understand the long-term consequences of infection in those who survive.
🇨🇦
Hospitalization numbers are on the upward march across Canada again. According to the Public Health Agency of Canada, the total number of hospital beds being used by COVID patients jumped by 988 in the week ending April 18.
Breaking it down to general COVID admissions, the number of hospitalized pandemic patients rose from 5,619 to 6,550 that week. While intensive care numbers increased by 57 to 458 total beds in use, of those, the number on a ventilator also increased, going from 173 to 194.
On Monday, Canada reported 3,515 new corona infections (underreported) while losing 10 more lives to the pandemic.
The national positivity percentage over the last week is 17.2%.
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The Canadian vaccination effort has so far administered 32,785,683 1st vaccine doses (85.75% of the total population) while 31,250,247 people (81.73%) have two doses, and of those, 18,375,417 people are fully vaccinated with three doses.
🇺🇦/ 🇷🇺 War
🇫🇮 🇸🇪/ 🇷🇺
News reports that Finland would soon officially apply for NATO membership and would also do so at the same time as neighbouring Sweden were shot down by the Finnish Foreign Affairs Minister. Pekka Haavisto spoke to Finnish media outlet Yle and wouldn’t confirm the reports.
“It would be beneficial for Finland and Sweden if we went through this process at the same time, but the countries still make their own decisions.”
Haavisto said it is possible the two countries could make their own decisions at around the same time, but added what really matters right now is that the parliamentary process be respected.
“There are no exact dates. Then, when the work in Parliament begins to be completed, we will make another report. Parliament must be given peace of mind here.”
Swedish news outlet Aftonbladet is citing sources in reports saying that the United States and the United Kingdom have given Sweden security guarantees during the NATO application process. The promises include increased military presence, more military exercises, and strong political support from NATO member countries. This would be to safeguard against Russia trying to influence the process.
🇸🇪/ 🇷🇺
Sweden’s Foreign Affairs Minister Ann Linde says Russia has expelled four Swedish diplomats who now have to pretty quickly leave the country.
“Russia’s action are unjustified and disproportionate. By expelling Western diplomats, Russia is contributing to its international isolation. Sweden will respond appropriately to Russia's unwarranted actions.”
🇩🇪/ 🇺🇦
Bowing to growing pressure, Germany has made a major shift in its policy on supplying Ukraine with heavy weapons. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced Tuesday that Germany will supply 50 self propelled Gerard anti-aircraft systems to Ukrainian armed forces. The announcement was made as allies and officials from the United States and across Europe met at the U.S. Ramstein Air Base in Germany. Scholz had previously insisted Ukraine only be supplied with surplus Soviet era tanks.
The Gepard is a tank with two 35-millimeter anti-aircraft cannons on it. They can be upgraded with Stinger anti-aircraft missiles. It was phased out of use by the German military about a decade ago. The tanks will be refurbished and sent to Ukraine.
There is one fly in the ointment. Switzerland is a key supplier of ammunition for the tank and it has banned the export of such ammunition to Ukraine.
🇳🇴/ 🇺🇦
There are reports that Norway is going to increase its support for Ukraine, both in supplying new shipments of weapons and leading a weapon buying initiative with millions in funding. However, Norwegian Defense Minister Bjørn Arild Gram who met with his counterparts in Germany on Tuesday, wouldn’t confirm any details.
“When it comes to new donations from Norway, this is something the government is considering on an ongoing basis, but we will not comment on it publicly until any deliveries are in place.”
In a news release after the meeting, the ministry noted that the defense ministers “concrete contributions” to Ukraine, including cooperative agreements where one country might, for example, supply a weapons system and another the ammunition.
🇳🇱 🇩🇪/ 🇺🇦
The Dutch Ministry of Defense said that it will supply Ukraine with a “limited number” of howitzers in a cooperation deal with Germany. This adds to an effort to supply Ukraine with the heavy weapons it needs to level the playing field with Russia in the battle for Donbas and Luhansk.
🇷🇺/ 🇵🇱 🇧🇬 Denmark
Russia is taking a major gamble and playing hardball with its supply of gas to at least two European countries. The Russian gas company Gazprom announced Tuesday it is shutting off the supply of gas to both Poland and Bulgaria because both have refused demands to pay for the gas in Russian rubles. This is a breach of the contract signed with the two countries and Poland and Bulgaria will likely challenge the move on legal grounds. Russia is also likely playing chicken by seeing how far it can push the gas stoppage with the hope of causing fissures in European unity that it can use to its advantage.
Denmark’s largest energy company, Ørsted, has also refused Russia’s demand to pay in rubles and it told DR on Tuesday it hasn’t heard a word from Gazprom.
Danish Institute for International Studies Senior Researcher Trine Villumsen Berling, speaking to DR, says Denmark is in a good position to weather any threat by Russia to turn off the energy taps.
“We can turn to green gas, and we have quite large gas stocks. We will be able to make it far into the cold season this year. But there can be problems when we get to New Year, especially by January and February.”